Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Russo and Steele Collector Autos '73 Corvette

This 1973 Trans-Am, A/Production, IMSA Corvette recently received a complete Concour's quality restoration. The Corvette has an interesting history as it was given as a "body in white" with no title or vin to racer Bill Morrison. Bill's friend Tony DeLorenzo had connections at the Chevrolet Division of GM and was able to facilitate the transaction. Morrison had raced with Tony's "Owens Corning team" on occasion including at the Watkins Glen six hour race and Tony had driven Bill's big block Corvette at Road America and Talledega. It was built by Bill Morrison and Chuck West with help from Tony in acquiring parts and other supplies. Many of the parts came from the BUDD Corvette that Tony had built but was loss to a fire at the Pontiac, MI. street race.

The 1973 Corvette may not have been as fast in stock form as earlier models, but after years of racing Corvettes many racers of the day new what it took to make these cars continue to run up front on the race tracks across north america. Years of working with suspension, steering, brakes and the use of wider wheels and tires helped these cars race and win. The new larger 454 engine gave added power over the 427's of the past. Along with the now famous L-88 open camber cylinder heads these race 454 engines like the one here in the Morrison Corvette proved to be able to out run all comers on the long straight aways at tracks like Road America, Daytona and Sebring. Tony DeLorenzo had raced Morrisons car with a 454 at Talledega, he said "Billy's nickel rocket was quite something; we had to be doing 200 plus. That's when we knew that the Budd car had to be a 454." With these refinements Corvettes continued to dominate much of their competition.

The Morrison Corvette was entered in 23 Trans-Am Races and had several Top 10 finishes. It won the 1977 Central Division A/P National Championship. It also won the 1977 June Sprints with Bill Morrison driving and held the A-Production track record at Road America til the end of the class in 1978. It was driven by Tony DeLorenzo at the 1976 Road America Trans-Am. It also raced in IMSA with Chuck West driving. The car received a Bloomington Gold Historic Award on June 22nd of 2001 after being reviewed and verified by the judges and was recognized for having made a substantial contribution to Corvette racing history.

This 1973 Corvette with substantial racing history comes complete with photo documentation from the day it was delivered as a body in white to the present. It was the winner of the BRIC group 6 race at Road America in 1998. It also has run a best lap at Road America with a small block at 2:25 and a time of 2:23 with a injected big block. It was the winner of its class at the 2000 and 2010 Road and Track Concours d'Elegance. It is fully documented, has an exciting racing history and is ready for vintage racing or to join a collection of historic race cars as the very prominent "Bill Morrison" Corvette.